Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09USOSCE242
2009-10-29 12:18:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Mission USOSCE
Cable title:  

OSCE WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS: OCTOBER 19 - 23, 2009

Tags:  MARR OSCE PGOV PREL GG RU 
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DE RUEHVEN #0242/01 3021218
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 291218Z OCT 09
FM USMISSION USOSCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6671
INFO RUCNOSC/ORG FOR SECURITY CO OP IN EUR COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS PRIORITY 0131
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 0097
RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK PRIORITY 0145
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO PRIORITY 0094
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL PRIORITY 0144
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT PRIORITY 0124
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL PRIORITY 0149
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV PRIORITY 0143
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 0184
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS PRIORITY 0124
RUEHUM/AMEMBASSY ULAANBAATAR PRIORITY 0087
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RHMFISS/CDRUSAREUR HEIDELBERG GE PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMCSUU/EUCOM POLAD VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RUESDT/DTRA-OSES DARMSTADT GE PRIORITY
RUEASWA/DTRA ALEX WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JCS WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/SACEUR POLAD SHAPE BE PRIORITY
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 USOSCE 000242 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/27/2019
TAGS: MARR OSCE PGOV PREL GG RU
SUBJECT: OSCE WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS: OCTOBER 19 - 23, 2009

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Carol Fuller for Reasons 1.4(B)&(D)

Georgia: Russia Outlines Conditions for Proposed Support Team

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 USOSCE 000242

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/27/2019
TAGS: MARR OSCE PGOV PREL GG RU
SUBJECT: OSCE WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS: OCTOBER 19 - 23, 2009

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Carol Fuller for Reasons 1.4(B)&(D)

Georgia: Russia Outlines Conditions for Proposed Support Team


1. (SBU) In an October 20 meeting, the Russian delegation
reportedly told the senior policy officer on the OSCE
Conflict Prevention Center's Caucasus Desk that Moscow
wanted a written proposal for the Chairmanship's "support
team" and preferred a modified chain of command. The
delegation suggested the OSCE follow the example of the UN
while planning, noting that informal exchanges were held and
a non-paper put forward prior to the "gentleman's agreement"
on the UN arrangement for Abkhazia. The Russian delegation
also argued that the support team should report through the
director of the Conflict Prevention Center to the OSCE
Secretary General, rather than through Greek Special
Representative Christopoulos to the Chairmanship, and again
cited the UN model, observing that the UN team reports to the
director of the Department of Peacekeeping Options rather
than to UN Special Representative Verbeke. In addition, the
Russian delegation emphasized that the team should be
"strictly technical" and should not undertake independent
monitoring. Finally, the delegation said Moscow understands
that no Russian would be an acceptable member of the team,
and has no strong objections to OSCE vehicles crossing the
South Ossetian administrative boundary line (but believes
South Ossetian authorities will insist that South Ossetian
vehicles be used north of the line).

CiO gives positive report on Geneva Co-Chairs, activities


2. (SBU) In the meeting with ChargQ Fuller on Oct 20, Greek
Perm Rep Marinaki reported that the three Geneva Co-Chairs
had arrived in Georgia and expected to hold meetings in
Tbilisi and Tskhinvali as scheduled. Marinaki added that
South Ossetian representatives would allow the CiO's
independent water and gas expert, Werner Johannides, to
travel October 21 in a marked OSCE vehicle across the
administrative boundary line and into Akhalgori, reversing
previous objections to travel in OSCE cars. The ChargQ

agreed this was a positive development and reiterated U.S.
support for the Chairmanship's proposed "support team."

CiO to Request pS Support in Selecting New RFOM


3. (U) Commenting on two days of briefings with six
potential candidates for Mr. Haraszti's successor, Greek
Perm Rep Marinaki expressed the CiO's preference for a
candidate who would not fear to speak his/her mind,
demonstrate the highest professional standards and enjoy the
respect of, as well as dare to speak eye-to-eye with
political leaders and other high level representatives of any
country. Marinaki announced her intention to ask
participating States in the upcoming PC to assist the CiO in
the selection of the most qualified candidate - applying
above mentioned standards - by submitting to the CiO a list
of three preferred candidates, confidentially and in no
particular order no later than Oct 29. Having identified the
candidates who received the highest support from pS, the CiO
would proceed by inviting them for interviews in front of all

56.

CiO Gives Update on Ministerial Preparation


4. (SBU) On Oct 20, asked whether a meeting of the
representatives of the "Big 5" (NATO, EU, OSCE, COE, CSTO)
was planned on the margins of the Athens Ministerial, Greek
Perm Rep Marinaki pronounced it unrealistic and difficult as
the new Greek PM/FM had not yet been briefed and the NATO

USOSCE 00000242 002 OF 005


SYG's schedule would not allow for it. However, she said,
it could not be ruled out entirely. There was still some
consideration of a possible meeting December 10 or 11.
Marinaki also announced the appearance of Greek Alternate FM
Dimitris Droutsas at the Special PC on Nov 6th and his
participation in a ceremony to commemorate the fall of the
Wall with former German FM Genscher and Austrian FM
Spindelegger. She also revealed plans to organize a "5 2"
meeting on Transnistria during his visit.

First Two Human Dimension Draft Ministerial Council Decisions
Tabled


5. (SBU) The first two of at least six expected Human
Dimension (HD) Ministerial Council Decisions - "Rule of Law:
Democratic Law-Making and Access to Law" and "Enhancing OSC
Efforts to Ensure Roma and Sinti Sustainable Integration" -
were presented for discussion at the HD Committee meeting
October 19. Since the drafts were only circulated to pS on
October 13, and guidance had yet to be received, delegations
were only able to discuss the drafts in general terms. The
EU, U.S., Holy See and Russian Federation (RF) delegations
were generally in favor of the Rule of Law draft, although
the RF representative did note that his government will
probably "not be able to support all of the (human dimension)
drafts." The Belarusian representative noted that his
government would probably not be able to support "a Rule of
Law decision every year," but was awaiting more specific
guidance from Minsk. Likewise, most delegations noted their
support of the Roma/Sinti draft. The Canadian representative
suggested that the draft include a follow-up mechanism and
the Belarusian representative noted that it would be
difficult to comment on the draft without first seeing the
expected draft decision on hate crimes, since "there could be
overlap on issues." Before adjourning, the UK representative
announced that the UK, along with two other European
countries, was working on a draft declaration to commemorate
the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the UN Convention on
Torture. A third draft decision on "Women's Participation
in Political and Public Life" was distributed electronically
to pS on October 16, but was not discussed at the HD
Committee meeting.

Australia Considers Joining Asian Partners


6. (SBU) In the same meeting with CDA Fuller, Greek Perm Rep
Marinaki expressed the CiO's willingness to consider
Australia's application for OSCE partnership, provided a
letter from Canberra stating a serious intent to join, would
be forthcoming in due time. This was especially pertinent,
she said, given Canberra's interest in participation at the
Athens Ministerial.

EU Troika Agrees on Georgia, Draft Decisions, and Afghan
Elections


7. (SBU) In a meeting with the EU Troika on October 21,
Swedish Ambassador Bard-BringQus expressed her regret
regarding Russian reservations regarding the CiO's proposed
"support team" for the South Ossetia region, considering the
progress the three Geneva Co-Chairs were expected to make
during their current visit to Georgia, but confirmed the
EU's support for the proposed arrangement. Turning to the
Athens Ministerial, Bard-BringQus described the discussion of
the political declaration on the Corfu Process as
"constructive and continuous" but noted a need to refine it.
She confirmed the EU's support for a "substantive"
Ministerial decision on energy security, and agreed that
within the context of a wider discussion among international

USOSCE 00000242 003 OF 005


organizations, the OSCE needed to better define its unique
value and message beyond a dialog on energy security,
especially as it relates to conflict prevention in Europe.
Regarding Afghanistan's run-off elections, the EU welcomed a
second-round deployment of an OSCE/ODIHR election support
team.

Greeks Put Forward Draft MC Decision on Migration Management


8. (U) On October 21 the Greek delegation distributed a
Ministerial Council draft decision (DD) on migration
management issues. In a meeting of the Economic and
Environmental Committee the same day, the Greek delegation
said this DD, which is the first to be tabled in the second
dimension and which draws upon the outcomes of the 17th
Economic and Environmental Forum on the same topic, is meant
to emphasize the importance of cooperation between origin and
destination states and the need to incorporate gender aspects
of migration into policy, raise awareness of the positive
aspects of migration, and facilitate more sharing of
experience of best practices. The DD includes language
tasking the OSCE Secretariat and committees to provide a
platform for continued dialogue on migration and security
issues and to assist participating States upon request to
improve and implement migration legislation and policy. It
also includes a tasking to analyze the relationship between
environment and migration and identify policy responses,
including preparation and early warning functions. The first
text negotiation session is scheduled for October 28.

OSCE Workshop on Public-Private Partnerships with the Media
in Countering Terrorism


9. (U) The OSCE's Action against Terrorism Unit hosted a
workshop October 19-20 in Vienna featuring experts,
government and international organization officials and
journalists to discuss ways to enhance cooperation between
public authorities and the news media in the fight against
terrorism. The goal was to foster discussion on
counter-terrorism initiatives that maintain freedom of the
press and the freedom of expression. The Russian delegation
) trying to get the language right ) repeatedly referred to
voluntary cooperation between the media and the government
and partnership without encroachments on media freedom.
Russian reps also focused, however, on forcing the media to
take sides between the government and terrorists. Yuri
Alekseyev, Russian Deputy Head of the Apparatus of the
National Anti-Terrorism Committee, endorsed government
regulation to block terrorist propaganda websites and
suggested that the OSCE facilitate cooperation between states
on suppressing Internet propaganda. Other key points of the
conference included: the need to build trust between the
government and media before crises, including through
awareness-raising, training and exchange programs.
Participants also noted that training and education of the
media and government, and involving the media in crisis
prevention drills and post-incident evaluations can have
significant benefits.

pS Laud Lithuanian FM's Focus on Regional, Sub-Regional
Cooperation


10. (C) In his address to the Permanent Council October 22,
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Usackas highlighted the
importance of the OSCE as a platform for regional and
sub-regional cooperation. At a dinner October 21, the
Lithuanian delegation told us that Usackas' highlighting of
the Council of Baltic Sea States and other sub-regional
organizations was an attempt to derail the Russians, "Big

USOSCE 00000242 004 OF 005


Five" meeting of European security organizations under OSCE
auspices. Russia is seeking to upgrade the status of CSTO by
putting it on the same level as NATO. Sweden/EU and Norway,
as well as the U.S., took up Usakas theme of expansive
sub-regional cooperation at the PC. At the PC, many pS
commended Usackas, focus on regional and sub-regional
cooperation, agreed that the OSCE was a natural platform for
discussions of European security, and highlighted the human
dimension as a uniquely valuable feature of the organization.


Russia Calls for Reform and a Meeting of the Big Five


11. (SBU) Issuing a call for a return to the OSCE's
"original mission," Russia emphasized the "equal and
indivisible" nature of security, and said this could be
achieved only through "comprehensive reform." Russia
reiterated its call for a meeting of the "Big Five,"
arguing this would ensure a "truly equal" status for all pS
and overcome "imbalances" in the organization, which has
placed undue emphasis on the human dimension. Turning to the
Corfu Process, the Russian representative called for more
discussion of President Medvedev's proposal for a new
European security treaty, and urged pS to revive efforts in
the political-military arena, arguing they should review
existing documents to see if they were consistent with
existing realities. Kazakhstan declared itself ready to
continue discussions of European security during its 2010
Chairmanship, and again raised the possibility of convening a
Summit.

U.S., EU, and Canada Criticize Kazakhstan on Zhovtis


12. (SBU) At the October 22 Permanent Council meeting, the
United States, the EU, and Canada criticized Kazakhstan for
upholding the conviction, a day earlier, of leading human
rights defender Yevgeney Zhovtis. Citing violations of due
process that were not appropriately addressed by the
appellate court, the EU called for a thorough review of all
aspects of the Zhovtis case. Canada also called attention to
the procedural irregularities in the case and encouraged
Kazakhstan "to continue to work to bring its judiciary to
international standards." In a brief response, a Kazakh
delegate (notably not the Ambassador) reiterated
Kazakhstan's earlier statement setting forth the facts,
of the Zhovtis case and took issue with comments that Zhovtis
was incarcerated. "He is in a resettlement colony, not a
jail, and not incarceration, despite what others have said,"
he remarked. The delegate concluded that Zhovtis, lawyers
"have the right to appeal to the supervisory instance court
for a review of the proceeding."

Head of OSCE Presence in Albania Addresses Permanent Council


13. (C) Robert Bosch, Head of the OSCE Presence in Albania
(PiA),gave his annual address to the Permanent Council on
Oct 22. His report highlighted both progress and remaining
challenges for reforms in Albania and pointed to an excellent
working relationship with the GoA. In his 10-page written
report, he highlighted the problematic post-election
political situation and made a number of specific
recommendations for improvements to the electoral system.
Bosch privately told USOSCE ChargQ Christensen that of the 16
electoral system changes he had proposed to ODIHR for their
report, only four had been accepted and he was using his PC
report to highlight what he thought were the most important
of the recommendations that had not been incorporated by
ODIHR, including changes to the composition of CEC
structures, changes to how mandates are calculated in order

USOSCE 00000242 005 OF 005


to help smaller parties, and masking of ballot boxes during
counting so their geographic origin cannot be determined. He
also told us he viewed the ODIHR report as not necessarily
reflective of reality, as the executive summary mostly
described the positive aspects of the elections while burying
the most negative aspects in the main body.

Secretariat Plans for 2010 Afghan Border Activities


14. (SBU) During a 21 October meeting, OSCE customs advisor
Jon Trumble (amcit) described a renewed focus on Afghan
border projects within the OSCE Secretariat. OSCE Secretary
General Marc De Brichambaut has raised Afghanistan projects
15 and 16 in internal deliberations and believes possible
OSCE customs/borders training programs inside Afghanistan
will be back on the table in 2010. The Secretariat borders
team was planning to drop the project numbers in future
discussions, which carry a negative connotation with some
delegations, and instead refer to a general "Afghan Border
Training Capacity" concept. The next step will be for the
Secretariat to propose a modest XB project for an OSCE
security assessment of Afghanistan's northern border. In
addition to being a necessary first step to border work
inside Afghanistan, this project would set a precedent for
OSCE work inside the country. Trumble suggested the USG
could help get this process moving with some pressure on De
Brichambaut about the Secretariat's plans.

FULLER